Where are all the GA builders?

[No Longer Active]

Hey,

I was just curious to know if there are any GA builders out there?

Are any of you building the Piper, Arrow, Cherokee, Cessna etc?

Just that there are soooo many 737 builders on here, and was wondering where all the GA builders are?

Seems at the moment that they are extinct!

So....

If you are GA builders, please please please post some updates of your sim or project in the photogallery and upload your links to this page! I would love to know you....

I am as you know building the Cessna 182 and would really appreciate another builder to exchange ideas and stuff with, as there are still some measurements and stuff that I need, but with the lack of GA builders on the site I am beginning to think they are elsewhere!

Matt / Gez / Trev if you are reading....can we have a new tag on the forum just for General Aviation please? We need it? (AlexPilot's GA Discussion? lol)

Anyway.....

You know the score, GA builders...show your faces and post some pics!

Cheers MyCockpit Members....

Alex

EDIT: Just been searching many GA builders postings and it seems that more or less all GA members are now 'Old Skool' and have 0% activity!

Build a Cessna on the side!!!!

Think GA and you'll be OK!

[BlackWidow]

I was buidling a GA sim but I have since fallen in love with the DoDo Sim 206 and have decided to build a helicopter sim. I will post pics up but as of right now money is tight and i have not built anything except a stand for my X52 and I am useing a old center console from a previous GS build. If PM ever finishes there GAGC software i would like to build a GA sim useing that.

[GARich]

Watch out for an update on the Seething Sim soon - One of our members is in the middle of constructing a scratch built 172 cockpit, wing stubs 'n all!

[No Longer Active]

Woohoo!

We have some members, we're alive!

Keep up the updates, would be really nice to see some more GA pits!

Please stay in touch, we need more posts on GA builds!

Nice one!

Alex

[No Longer Active]

Any more GA builders want to show their faces?

[jaspar]

Hi Alex

dont know if i qualify as a GA sim builder but im building a Bae Hawk based sim.

its not a full replica but a tub with asa near as posible all switches in the correct place and interfaced yhrough fsuipc and leo's bu86x cards.

at presant the tub is 75% coplete and the left hand avionics fit controling the engine management, trim, flap u/c, DC bus and AC bus are wired and functioning ( still to be tidied up ) i have a TH2Go for the outside visuals linked to 3 17" lcd's and am trying to get my two 15" lcd's to work with FSXPAND for the instruments ( having trouble with FSXPAND at the moment).
I have two dual core 3ghz pc's for running fsx full photo sceanary and soon active sky for weather. I have a further 4 pentium 3 or 4 pc's that im hoplig to get working with FSXPAND when i eventualy get it to work and hope to use a 10" tft as a moving map ( i have 4 redundant 10" tft's from work)

for flight controls i have saitek x52 throtle and stick along with there rudder pedles. Also just bought there new usb radio panel so hope to incorporate that too.


started the build in jan this year and only now do i realise what a mamoth task it is already see a lot i want to redo as my woodworking and fabrication skills have improved.

dave
dave

[No Longer Active]

Hi Dave,

Wouldn't say your project is GA based but it sure sounds interesting!

I am myself a fan of TH2GO and would love this kind of setup, its really good what it does especially if you only have minimal outputs on your video card!

Again, FSX is a great sim to fly on, I myself am a big FS9 fan, it really is a classic sim, I am glad you have 3.0GHz dual cores on your PC as FSX sure does need all the CPU power it can get, I have a dual core 2.2ghz and fsx isn't too responsive on that but FS9 runs like a dream, well atleast my video card can handle it!

Let me know your verdict on the saitek radio's (can I ask?, how wide is the saitek radio?....is it 8" wide?)

Keep up the good work, and please post your picture updates in the photo gallery for all to see!

All the best,

Alex

[kermit]

Hi
I`m Henk living in the Netherlands,
I`m building A cessna 172 based on Simkits instruments,goflight radio`s and some orginal aircraft parts.
also using matrox triplehead to go

Some time ago I purchased a instrumentpanel from Flightdecksolutions ,but they stop producing any GA parts .
regards Henk

[jaspar]

alex

the saitek radios are more than 8" i'm afraid my avionic bays are 10" wide and they are a tight fit but do fit just !!!! but I'll go out to my sim in the morning and do an acurate measurement for you.

yes fsx is very cpu intensive, im just back into simming and have not owned fs9 ( but had every other msfs before it ) so when coming back i skipped fs9 and jumped right into fsx as i guessed it would last longer than fs9. little did i know?

I didnt want to build an airlinner or just a little GA like a c172. settled on the Hawk as its aveonics are quite basic, no autopilot or glass cockpit here although the hawk 100 has been upgraded to take glass cockpits and modern avionics into acount, but mine is a early 1980's mk1a. a la red arrows complete with smoke deployment system.although mine wears a 100sqn coulor scheme ( im certinly not up to standard t fly a red painted one yet although all 10 red ones are in my hanger )

[fweinrebe]

Hi Alex

dont know if i qualify as a GA sim builder but im building a Bae Hawk based sim.


No Dave you belong in the Military group. ;) Do you have some photos to share?

[JamesVic]

For what it's worth - I'm looking at a GA build. Currently still in planning phase mostly but have been slowly working on a GNS500 based on idea's/info that wsoeldner posted back a month ago - great work. On the subject anybody know a resource for Garmin knobs - acutal or otherwise?

[No Longer Active]

On the subject anybody know a resource for Garmin knobs - acutal or otherwise?

Hi, try http://www.simparts.de try searching this site, it has some pretty good dual encoders at a reasonable price. They are not Garmin but are as good as.

This should help with the GPS....

Cheers.

Alex

[kermit]

Hi,
Where could I find a faceplate for a Garmin GPS
orginal or otherwise
greetz Henk

[peter1b1]

Hi Alex,

I was going to build a 172 cockpit but I have stumbled across a Partenavia P68 fuselage and have purchased it. Picking it up this week end, so I noew have a cockpit!. I am also using the TH2Go with currently 3 17" monitors and using FS Xpand for the instrument panel. Will be upgrading to projectors once the fuz is in the shed and set up.

Regards

Peter

[No Longer Active]

Hi Peter,

That is a very ambitious project you have there, I guess nothing beats the frill of owning an actual chunk of 'plane' and converting it to a working cockpit....

Love the pics, seesm like a lot of work to me, I agree that the TH2GO is a must for a shell, as you need the all round view...

Would love to see the progress.

So keep up posted and keep up the (very hard) work to come lol!

Thanks for sharing this with us....

All the best!

Alex

[No Longer Active]

Keeping this post going I think!

Anymore GA builders like to come forward? lol

Alex

[JamesVic]

Hi, try http://www.simparts.de try searching this site, it has some pretty good dual encoders at a reasonable price. They are not Garmin but are as good as.


Thanks Alex - I'll chcek them out

[g0kmt]

I am in the process of building a sim - based loosley on the Cirrus SR22G3 but initially its gonna be generic

The outside world is going to be projected on the wall - need to move furniture around to achieve this bit hehe

I have:

a 23inch LCD panel for main instruments
a 17 inch for the radio stack.
LCD projector
CH Yoke
CH quadrant
CH pedals
Quad core 2GHz Phenom with 3Gb RAM
1Gb 9600GT for outside world
512mb 8400 PCI for panels.

[Tripacer]

Alex,
I have about that question myself. And I have come to a couple of conclusions; 1: 737NG and aother airliner sims are just full of all kinds of neat switches and the like, 2: Perhaps these builders enjoy the complexity of the sim and want to experience some of that since they probably cannot any other way, 3: GA sims typically have mostly 'steam gages' and therefore are a bit harder to build than glass cockpits in airliners, 4: When you are done (if ever) then you have to fly the GA aircraft as the systems do not manage the aircraft the same way Boeing ro Airbus aircraft do.
I am building a 1959 Piper Tripacer which is the same plane i learned to fly in in the 1960s. I am building the instruments myself, and the going is slow. I have completed the mechanicals for 4 instruments (turn & bank, directional gyro, and 2 fuel gages). I am now construction the computer interfaces for them. So in 1 1/2 year I have mostly completed the cockpit structure and some gages. I have a long way to go. However, I enjoy the building process. Check out my meager website:
http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=385472&ck=

Tripacer

[Ronson2k9]

Nice pics Tripacer. Your upholstery work alone gets you a gold star very nicely done. I think one thing that is important is that you don't stop using the sim to build the cockpit. Even though you have integrate them together. There is the complexity of building a 'Heavy' and the reward is quite awesome as well. For me though there is the automated aspects that make it like watching a movie. I myself would rather drive stick then automatic. I want to feel connected to what I'm doing. I like the heavies and had considered building a BAE146-100. It's range is good and wide variety of liveries make it a cool choice. I wanted to get my feet wet first though by building a GA cockpit. I love the smaller aircraft for it's sportiness and an Amphibious as I'm building gets me anywhere I would want to fly 'on the virtual planet'. I have a great love of bush flying and so I chose the Cessna U206G as my simpit. I'll not ever get tired of flying it as it's both a land and sea based plane. Having that complexity and any choice of destination make it the bird for me.

I'm just in the beginnings of building though. I've been over to Alex's site and seen how well he has been doing has really inspired me. BTW Alex I found the cups in North America at Walmart. Their own brand of disposable diamond pattern cups (only using the non textured top of the cup) is a perfect 78mm (10 to a pack for $2.39cdn) All the dollar stores had cups but they were either to big or to small.

A friend of mine in the UK sent me a Garmin GPSMAP 195 for helping him with his project but I have to get a few things for it to work in my cockpit but it will be an excellent 'real' flight item when I'm and it's ready.

First though I want to build the rudder and floor of the cockpit. I don't have a rudder pedal setup yet and I'm anxious to not only build one but fly with one.

I hope to hear from more GA builders here. There are quite a few out there but seem very busy.. hehe.

Best of luck to the both of you on your respective builds..

[gokhotit]

I am building a generic sim bsed on no real airplane what so ever. So far I just have a collection of "stuf" on my desk and a console, using the GOFLIGHT rack as a base. Everything is either my own design, or is a modified real aircraft part. The autopilot is 100% my design, the prop control panel is 100% Douglas (DC-6). Even my chair came out of a Piper Chieftan (complete with air sick bags and evac card, in japanese). And, amazingly, it all works. ;)

I am currently designing an enclosure very loosely based on the design by DIYflightsim. It will have all the "stuff" enclosed with it, built around the console, and room for more.

Check my sig for links to pics.

[kermit]

Fingers crossed,
Coming Monday I will hear ,if I`m a new owner of a dutch cessna 172 airframe !!!!
:-o:-o

[No Longer Active]

Fingers crossed for ya!

Hope you get the frame, you will sure have your work cut out then!

[kermit]

The only thing will be to get it on to the first floor and push it thru a window:D
I told my wife its easy yeah right.

[No Longer Active]

Feel sorry for the wife lol!

My idea would be to house the fuselage in a trailer, and build the sim actually in the trailer, that way it could stay outside!

[GeneW]

Hi GA builders. I found this thread fascinating, so I had to join in. I am recently retired and decided my retirement project is to build a GA simulator. I have been tinkering wth FS for a long time, currently using FS9. My project will be in 2 phases (at least :roll:) Phase 1 is specing a high end computer to run FSX. When that is up & running I would like to build something along the lines of this [URL="http://www.simpit.christrup.net/"]. I have been reading several forums for a couple months, mostly FSX & hardware oriented. I still need to educate myself.

Anyway I am very interested in other people's progress, & wish you success :D

[Ronson2k9]

I remember that one too. Great sim. Well thought out. I agree getting FSX running at a good pace is a great place to start. Like having a great looking car with no engine you can look at all day but if you want to take it somewhere it's not going to do that..

Just as a addendum to the FSX thing. I recently had to replace my CPU cooling fan in my computer after routine cleaning it gave out. So in doing that and I think also in the cleaning out. I doubled my FSX FPS. Routine computer maintenance is a must when working with higher end machines especially. I have a feeling that memory is also key to running FSX at optimum (virtual HD and RAM).

So with that in mind make sure when you build your simpit you have good access to the computer your doing your simming with. As you will need to clean it out and check it over from time to time.

[Kerbo]

I am building a GA sim, based mostly on a Cessna 172. Work has been slow lately but I am picking up steam again.

http://workbench.freetcp.com/archives/category/flight-sim

It is good to see other GA simmers on here!

[No Longer Active]

OMG....its Wriley!

Where have you been pal, I havent seen you on here for atleast a year, I remember when you were showing us pictures of your home build instrument gauges that you made from mike powells book!

Hows it going? Long time no see!

What brings you back? Good to see ya!

Alex

[kermit]

Finally, I purchased a Cessna 172 N cockpit.
originally from Germany were it has crashed ,no victims.
As soon as I have it at my home ,I will make pictures
regards Henk

[Kerbo]

OMG....its Wriley!

Where have you been pal, I havent seen you on here for atleast a year, I remember when you were showing us pictures of your home build instrument gauges that you made from mike powells book!

Hows it going? Long time no see!

What brings you back? Good to see ya!

Alex


Hi Alex,
Life kind of got in the way for a while, but now my priorities are getting back in line. :grin:

I had a job change, built a deck on our house and have been spending a lot of time with my son (now almost 3 and likes to "make airplane go"). Mike's book has been dusted off and I am getting ready to start on scratch-built instrument #2, probably the attitude indicator.

I have also started designing a Nav/Comm unit based on the King KX-165. There seems to be a real lack of affordable options when it comes to GA avionics. I think I can do the Nav/Comm for less than $50 parts cost, we'll see. There will be more details coming soon once I get a circuit near finished. Surprisingly enough, the hardest part has been sourcing some kind of affordable numerical display due to the small digit size required.

[No Longer Active]

I have also started designing a Nav/Comm unit based on the King KX-165. There seems to be a real lack of affordable options when it comes to GA avionics. I think I can do the Nav/Comm for less than $50 parts cost, we'll see. There will be more details coming soon once I get a circuit near finished. Surprisingly enough, the hardest part has been sourcing some kind of affordable numerical display due to the small digit size required.


My whole radio stack which is:

1 x KMA 24 AUDIO PANEL
2 x KX 155 NAV / COMs
1 X KT76C XPDR
1 X KN62 DME
1 X KR87 ADF
1 X Generic AutoPilot

I made the above panels for £30 (photo realistic)

Encoders and toggles cost £20

Like you, I just need to buy the digits for the readouts which costs around £20-30

So it just shows that you can build a 'complete' replica of the 'whole' radio stack for peanuts.

http://alexpilot.50g.com/images/the%20panel.JPG

I will post pictures when i have finished the panel!

All the best!

Alex

[Paul Thomas]

Still working on my King Air 200 project.